An Ohio bicycle repairman and his wife are the proud winners of a bicycle shop in Maryland.
Several months ago, the owners of the C&O Bicycle shop in Hancock, Maryland, offered to give away their business — lock, stock, and bicycle — to the author of the best essay about how to help cyclists and promote cycling in the area.
The Ohio couple, Dennis and Judy Hudson, were one of just nine applicants for the contest, which also required a $250 entry fee. According to the Hagerstown Herald-Mail, Dennis wrote about buying his first bicycle:
Hudson said he never will forget the employees he met as a child, gazing for the first time at his new red 10-speed. In his essay, he wrote, “Driving by the old abandoned building brings me back to that day when I was treated like an important customer instead of just a child.”
The Hudsons win the C&O Bicycle shop, the estimated inventory of $75,000 worth of bicycles, recumbents, and rentals. They also will operate a bunkhouse for traveling cyclists behind the store, which is located on the popular Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park. The park runs along the Potomac River for 185 miles between Washington DC and Cumberland, MD. The canal's mostly level, packed-earth towpath is used by thousands of cyclists and hikers.
The sponsors of the contest, George and Pamela Whetzel, will still own the property and the new business owners will have to pay rent. The two parties were still working out the conditions of the contract, although Hudson is expected to take over the shop on May 1.
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